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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

This morning, after a few days of a lot of work, I felt like “time to for a trip to the coast!”. And so, I did. It started with the usual, Belfast, and vegetables at Chase’s and walking around town. Then, I was off on the back country roads of Coastal Rt 1 to Cellardoor Winery. Fabulous glass of wine with a view. The backroads to Camden, quite the preppy tourist trap. But this comes with good restaurants, so no complaints. On the search for the Camden farmers market, I found 40 Paper. But for dinner I tried the James Beard 2014 Best Restaurants of the Northeast Semifinalist, Francine. Unfortunately, at that point my camera battery died so only a photo of the restaurant. --- the food was superb, and I was lucky to get a table on the romantic veranda right after opening.

Cellardoor Winery, Lincolnville, ME
Several people wanted to know which shoes I am wearing.
A glass of wine with a view on the Cellardoor vineyard and the pond.
40 Paper, Camden, ME
Camden farmers market
Francine, Camden, ME

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Deal alert, valid only for today (7/29/2014)---- $389 Vitamix in berry (pink!) with 2 containers, one for regular one and a wet blade for grains. That is such a deal it makes me want to buy a second vitamix!

You can bring down the cost by using EXTRA10 (-->$350 for the vitamix, free shipping, of course)

July slowly comes to an end. It feels like a long drawn out month, a summer month, but endless. Maybe it was because I did not feel like going in my usual summer hectic of “Oh, I have to make the most out of summer, let cram as much as possible into every day.” For paradoxical reasons, doing the opposite actually made the month feel endless. But there is no denying it, only one month of official summer left.

Everyone looks like this by now.

I am not sure if I will continue with my laid back attitude or go into vacation with a renewed sense of “let’s make the most out of summer there is not much left”. I should get at least one hike in. Eat one lobster.

But I am eating no-lettuce salads, and managed to finally lose my fitbit flex. The clasp had opened several times recently but always at home and just in time I caught it. This time it happened on campus. I retraced all my steps, and despite it being bright pink it was not to be found. Hope, it makes someone else happy.

Fortunately, there is always cake to cheer me up..and ordering a new one.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Currently, I am into baking smaller cakes. Like a third of a recipe sized cakes. However, as lesson learnt shows, you can’t just divide the ingredients into 3 and then go with a third. The proportions no longer fit, especially if you don’t weigh ingredients but go by cup measurements. I did this with the ricotta lemon cake, making it in a size just right for 2-3 people. The first round, I just third-ed the ingredients; the cake came out very tasty but very dense, more like a cheese cake. The second version, investigating proper portion proportions for fluffy cakes, I got it right.

It starts with a half stick of butter, and a half cup of sugar, butter airated with an electric mixer.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Yesterday, I saw a movie that knocked my socks off. I am still reeling in the impression of it, and decided then and there that I need to buy the DVD. --- I can imagine it is a love-it or hate-it movie. I could not remember what made me originally add it to my DVD queue in Neflix, and that can happen. This was one of them. I started watching, I had not googled anything about it, and I was just taken in, annoyed that I ordered a movie with subtitles, and wondered after 15 min “This is fun, but where is the plot???”

After 30min it was clear “The Great Beauty” was more a Fellini-type of movie, and I had to check the small signs of a Mac or other indicators that this is current movie. It could easily have been a classic Fellini with its array of colorful, absurd, over the top characters and lack of plot. What drew me in immediately where the roof top over Rome party scenes. My favorite type of dance music and everyone, in every shape, size and age group, brought it on, shaking to the rhythm like they owned it. Bravo, Italia! I thought. “Everyone has the attitude it does not matter who you are, elegance, beauty, sensuality and living life belongs to you. La Dolce Vita.”.

The scenes of dazzling night life are contrasted with scenes of solemn women singing and a Japanese tourist suddenly dropping dead. Foreshadowing – nightlife and death. After a while the plot becomes clear. It is about Jep, an aging socialite, on his 65th birthday when he starts to reflect on his life. In his youth he had loved Elisa but she left him and he never knew why. He never married, only wrote on book in his youth (when he still believed in the beauty and poetry of life) and then was too distracted by just living the glittery high society nightlife of Rome, which was really more empty, overstimulated, with a lack of real emotions. It is a loving homage to his friends, and all of them having had their smaller and larger disappointments and disillusionments in life, but they jointly, politely, lovingly keep the illusion of the “Grande Bellezza” of life intact. Yet, people feel empty, people kill themselves, hang on to trying to be finally successful or loved, die too young of unspecified illnesses, retreat to their hometown and disillusioned leave Rome. But Jep, encountering a 104 year old nun/saint, whose goal it is to climb the stairs to a saint in a church on her knees on her visit from Africa, depicting so clearly that much of life can be pain, suffering and hard work, finds his roots, connects to the true beauty of life again and starts to write his second book. The film ends with a boat ride on the Tiber through Rome, underneath the stone bridges at sunrise (after a typical long party night).

The film opened with a quote: “To travel is very useful, it makes the imagination work, the rest is just delusion and pain. Our journey is entirely imaginary, which is its strength.”

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalapenos and cook for another minute. Pour the tomatoes, chicken broth, beans, corn and chicken breast into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and put back in the pot. Add the fresh cilantro to the pot.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

It feels like this month stretches endlessly. Which is ok, because it is summer, and what better than for a summer month to stretch endlessly. The stores have ‘back to school’ isles stacked, and the clothing stores have the first fall wardrobe. Party poopers. The summer squash plants in the garden now produce based on where I planted them: in the old part of the raised bed, or the new addition filled with the Maine lobster compost. Those plants are about 5 times as big, and produce summer squash in record time. Therefore, most meals now include some fresh yellow squash.

Like the lunch with seared fresh scallops from Stonigton via the farmers market. Yesterday, I even found the first chanterelles in the woods. As good as summer feels” scallops, brown butter, chanterelles, fresh peas and a dab of crème fraiche.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

I am not sure what it is with me, summer and shoes. My shoe buying seems to gain a significant spike in the summer. This year I am trying to find the perfect Dansko sandal. I’ve been through a few iterations like the Dansko Nigella, the Dankso Tilly and Tasha (both keepers) (7.5/8 size matches best with 38) and now I am trying my luck with Swedish hasbeens (they actually run true to size). I am sure next year it will be a different fad (last year it was birkenstocks).

And then, there is buying new running shoes. Since I don’t follow what is the best running shoe on a regular basis, I look up the Runner’s Magazine recommendation in the year I buy new shoes. This is how I found same asics a few years ago, and they’ve been perfect. This time I was ready to branch out.

How about Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14?

Online shopping can be cheaper or not cheap at all ($10,999 for a pair of Brooks on Amazon?)

Buying running shoes calls for trying them on and walking around. In the end it came down to these two models for my personal best fit (high arches); the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14 or the Asics Gel-Nimbus 16.

The Asics have the perfect amount of cushioning, and would be a great pair of new running shoes. However, the colors of this shoe are hideous: like they dropped the shoes in a children’s paint set.

Ultimately, I went with the Brooks Adrenaline, very comfortable, very good fit all around the foot, lightweight and perfect also for other sports like body pump, zumba, and the like. Hot pink and dark gray are also colors I can live with.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The other day I found a brandnew cake pan at a flea market that is perfect for making the bottom cake layer of a typically German fruit cake. A fruit cake is none-specific because it is made in the same manner, but the fruit varies based on season or in the winter with canned (peaches!) or frozen fruit. A fruit cake is similar to a French fruit tart – both are made with fresh fruit. However, the ‘crust’ of the German bottom layer is more like a sponge cake and it is also inverted: the pan is filled completely with dough, baked and then turned upside down. Therefore, the cake pan needs to be the right one (like this, for example).

I baked the bottom layer, the farmers market had the last strawberries of the season, the German team won the world cup in soccer, so the fate of the cake was sealed: German strawberry cake!

Base layer: You need a pan similar to this one for baking the base layer. Make sure to butter it well because you don’t want the cake to stick.

Preheat oven to 360F. In a standmixer (or with handmixer), mix the sugar and butter until slightly foamy. Add the egg, and mix until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extra, and mix in. Mix the flour with the baking powder, and slowly add to the mixture, alternate with tablespoons of the milk.

Pour into butter pan, and bake for 20-25min.

Cool slightly, invert, and cool completely (it is best to make the crust a day ahead).

Preparing the strawberry cake:

Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut larger strawberries in half, keep smaller ones in tact. They should all be about the same size.

Poke the crust with a fork, and then distribute the strawberry jam on the crust. Ideally, it soaks the crust a little bit. If you use frozen fruit, preserve the juice when thawing and mix with the jam before distributing.

Prepare the vanilla pudding according to instructions. Let cool for 1-2 min, and distribute a thin layer on the cake layer. Let cool. (you won’t need all the pudding cooked).

Now, arrange the strawberries on the cake, in a circle from outward to inner circles. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Optional (but authentic): Cook the glaze according to instructions and pour hot over the fruit. Start from the center of the cake and slowly distributed to the rim.

Make the vinaigrette first: mix all ingredients and shake in a container with a lid.

Slice all the apricots into thin slices and then the slices into small cubes.

Salad: use a mandoline and slice the beets into really thin slices (as thin as you can). Lay a layer of beets on the bottom of a serving plate. Add a fourth of the apricots, a tablespoon of the pistachios and some of the basil vinaigrette. Also, add a sprinkle of salt.

Repeat 3—4 times until all the beet slices are stacked, and pour the remaining vinaigrette over the top layer of apricots and pistachios. Cover with aluminum foil, chill and let marinate over night.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Meanwhile, I’ve settled into summer. The days are still long, warm without being too hot or humid, the wind makes the birches bristle like a tulle skirt. My normal summer mode would include much driving, to coastal towns, but this year I seem to have a more local, hang-out, chill in the garden approach to summer. Days flow and wrap into each other, endlessly. Relaxing. Like in the book, “Northern Lights”, I started listening to yesterday, which appropriately also starst with “…. when time is slower in the summer, or stops at all”.

I have a feeling I am not the only one, enjoying summer this way, at the pool, at lakes, with plenty of friends, and ice cream, in swim suits, feeling like kids again.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

It is summer. With searing temperatures my appetite is usually low and often the kitchen is cold since I don’t feel like cooking. Mostly I eat salads, maybe with some beans or chickpeas, plenty of fruit, a bit of goat cheese, almond milk smoothie and pasta in the evening. Lately, I’ve upped my running to a 30 min run every other day. Then, I started to notice a strange effect: I got out to run or even start my day and I have no energy. A run starts sluggish and it does not get much better.

I thought about all the usual culprits for low energy: lack of hydration, lack of electrolytes because of sweating, lack of vitamin B-12 because I still eat mostly vegan. Nothing much helped.

Yesterday I downed a smoothie with regular milk yogurt, a cup of fage and 2 eggs.

Today, I feel back to my usual, energized self. ----- I guess in the summer with eating vegan light plus more exercise the protein from a vegan diet can be not enough to sustain energy levels. Here is to bringing back Fage!

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Yesterday, the Monday of the July 4th weekend, after hurricane Arthur and most of the local weekend visitors had left and went back to work, I finally made my first trip this summer to beloved Acadia and Bar Harbor (or Bah Haha, as it is called by Mainers). Getting to and being on the island I am always amazed of this being Maine at its best, and it is no surprise it is such a tourist attraction.

I was still sore from a long run so I ruled out a hike for the day, and decided it would just be a “hangout on Acadia” kind of day. This time, I did it the back way. When I arrived on Acadia around noon, I went to Bar Harbor first. This was also due to the fact that I wore new shoes and I already had blisters. There is only one Rite-aid I could remember and that is smack in the middle of Bar Harbor. It was a good plan because most of the tourists were out and about hiking, swimming and biking, and BH was comparatively free of cars and with half empty sidewalks.

Rupununi is gone (sad face, I had my first meal on Acadia here). Now there is Beerworks instead and it added a 2nd story deck.

A short stop at Blaze, to give my achy feet a break. Culprit shoes.

After having a late lunch, and then an extended espresso break in a new, tiny, beautiful café next to the mid-town Mount Desert Ice cream, I saw that the traffic had picked up and I got out of town, the backway, to Northeast Harbor.

Northeast Harbor is a place that even during the peak of tourist season is always quaint (although, word must have gotten out). Only Martha Stewart, the Rockefellers, and Ms Astor’s son will shop here.

Here, even Gwyneth Paltrow thinks it is still all good.

As said, word of Northeast Harbor must have gotten out, because buildings along the tiny Maine street are demolished, and the ‘shopping’ extends beyond the tiny few hundred yards now. However, this is a find which is worthy of Martha Stewart: a new, beautiful place to pick up salads, wine, and olive oil and eat it right in front to the store. Tasteful Tides.

The food looked delicious and I opted for a striped beet salad with dried apricots, basil, pistachios and a champagne vinaigrette. Lovely!